Pookie checking out her new digs.
^{Images: Sonia Zjawinski}

Have you ever traveled with your pets? How about cross country? That's what this half of Team Pawesome is doing at this very second. Yup, thanks to a Verizon aircard I'm posting to the site while my trusty hubby puts the pedal to the metal. We're headed from Brooklyn, NY to Monterey, CA with our three cats — Dim Sum, Gizmo, and Pookie. I'll be posting (hopefully) daily on our adventures with our furry babies as we make it across these here United States of America.

We decided to drive, rather than fly, because I just couldn't imagine apologizing for my crazy cats to the passengers around me for six hours (plus, we wanted to get our car to Cali). We've set up a large dog crate in the back of our Land Cruiser, which we've pimped out into one sweet kitty condo. Pictures of the our cats' luxury accommodations after the jump.

Luckily, through all the cat rescue work I've done in Brooklyn, I've inherited a few crates. This one someone was throwing out, so I scooped it up immediately. Now it's the temporary home for Dim Sum, Gizmo, and Pookie. 

We rigged up two baskets at different heights, a small litter box, and a cardboard scratching lounger in the back (that last part isn't shown in the above photo). 

I made sure to stock up with every kind of homeopathic cat calmer there is. From left, Feliway, Composure Liquid, Rescue Remedy. Right now none of them are at work because everyone refuses to eat (Composure and RR can be put in food) and we were in such a rush to get out of New York that I forgot to spray the car with Feliway before we put the cats inside. We'll make sure to do that tomorrow morning before we leave our motel. 
Here everyone is at our first rest stop. Dim Sum is the calico in the front and Gizmo is the big gray mass on the lower left. Pookie is way in the back. So far everyone's doing well, though a bit freaked out. Someone of course pooped once we got a few blocks from the house, but it's better that it happened in a litter box in the crate than in a small carrier on a cat! Check back daily for reports on how everything is moving along, as well as reviews of some of the pet-friendly hotels and motels we'll be stopping in. 

If you have any tips on traveling with pets, leave 'em in the comments below!    

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Day One of Operation Kitty Transport”